Saturday, December 26, 2015

Nope, not the band that released a seven inch as the first release on Victory Records. This is where Northwest Hardcore bridges the gap between False Liberty and the mighty Brotherhood. Where False Liberty were running with a hardcore punk sound, Inner Strength sees Greg and Vic taking more melodic cues more from DC Revolution Summer bands like Dag Nasty and Ignition. Also of note for the melody department is that Inner Strength featured Wade Neal on guitar for a stretch about a year before the formation of Seaweed.

This is a full soundboard recording from 10/30/87 at the World Community Theater in Tacoma, WA. Seattle was in the throes of their Teen Dance Ordinance years, which resulted in a severe lack of all ages shows for the city, and send many shows south to Tacoma and Olympia.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Now that a scanner has entered my household again, more diverse content should start rolling back to the site, and what better way to kick off during the holidays than with the Excursion Wishbook from 1992? Well concealed cash, or money orders only!

As a bonus, here's a one page ad for Overkill, Incision and Excursion Records from 1994.

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Blasphemour Records is just about to reissue Harvest's classic LP, Living With A God Complex on cassette. Pre-orders for both the tape (in three colors) and a limited run t-shirt are currently up on the site, and a portion of each sale will be donated to the American Refugee Committee.

Saturday, November 21, 2015

One thing that was always interesting in the 90s was how often various tours always collided in cities across America. This often resulted in shows with 8 - 12 bands on one bill, but they were never intended to be all day fests. This show on 8/9/98 at the Fireside Bowl in Chicago is one of those situations. Ten bands played that day, but the video I have only contains fives of them: Extinction, Shai Hulud, Trial, Harvest and Ten Yard Fight.

Monday, November 2, 2015

Here's a full set of Undertow at Nappy Dugout in Vanvouver, BC back on 12/13/92. Once again, filmed by Ron Guardipee with his hi8 camera.

After converting the video, I remembered seeing some pictures from this very show on DCXX a couple of years ago, and they had sourced these from Tom Holcomb.
Edit: I was also just informed that the cover photo for the Stalemate 7" was also taken at this show, and some outtakes can be found on the website of Dave Larson's great podcast, Nobody's Nose.

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Just converted a nice, early set of Strain from 12/11/92 in Vancouver, BC at South Wall, which was above the Mickey MacDougall Arena. This was a year after their demo, but still almost two years before their s/t EP on Overkill.

In case you've been living under a rock for the last year, you might not have noticed that Good Fight has been busy signing up some of the best current bands in hardcore. They also recently put out a digital sampler with tracks from their new artists, friends of the label and even a remastered Disembodied track from an upcoming discography box set.

Stream the sampler below, and then look up these bands on their own pages.

Friday, July 24, 2015

With the King Of The Monsters fest just a mere week away, it seemed like a great time to rip and post this Groundwork set from the On The Edge radio show on WPSC 88.7 FM from the summer of 1993. It's heavy on tracks from the split with Unbroken and the Living In Fear 7" with a couple from the (at the time) yet to be released full length as well.

Friday, July 17, 2015

The upcoming Chokehold discography reissues are now streaming via A389 Recordings bandcamp page. Current word is that an exclusive colorway of the triple LP set will be available at This Is Hardcore with any remaining copies being for sale in A389's webstore afterwards.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

With the upcoming string of Chokehold shows looming just over the horizon, it seemed like a good time to gather the live Chokehold recordings that we've posted in the past. Maybe these can tide you over until they start playing, and A389 gets the discography out.

The final lineup announcement for the King Of The Monsters20th anniversary fest has been made, and it's a doozy. For those that don't like to read flyers, a full list will be below. Tickets for the fest will be available on Wednesday, April 29th.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Unless you live under a rock, you've heard that Into Another released a new 5 song EP this week named Omens. In the midst of almost every band from the 90's reuniting to play shows, it's great to actually hear some new material from one of them, and it's good. Really good. To get you up to speed on what's going on with the band, here is their official press release:

Hauntingly ethereal melodies, intricate but memorable hooks, dynamic moods, crunchy riffs and the banshee wail of a metaphor-master lead singer collide within the groundbreaking and steadfastly unique outfit known as INTO ANOTHER. Almost disturbingly defiant of categorization, Into Another's catalog dabbles in hard rock, alt-rock, grunge, electro-pop and post-hardcore, somehow without sounding disjointed or disorganized.

Into Another came together in 1990. Richie Birkenhead, one-time guitar player for seminal straightedge flag bearers Youth of Today and vocalist for the reggae-tinged hardcore band Underdog hooked up with drummer Drew Thomas, himself a veteran of old-school youth crew bands Crippled Youth and Bold. Both men shared a desire to abandon the restrictive musical and aesthetic limitations of the scene without sacrificing its sense of community or passionate spirit.

The pair found exactly what they were looking for in Lower East Side musician Peter Moses, a longhaired guitar player who had never performed in a band before. His virtuosic and uninhibited playing style awed Thomas and Birkenhead, who next recruited incredibly fluid bassist Tony Bono. Bono had done a tour of duty in proto-speed metal act Whiplash, who once lent a member to Slayer.

The following year, Revelation Records released their debut, a self-titled album displaying Into Another's sharp musical chops and tripped-out spiritual vision, encapsulated by the band's eleven-pointed star logo which adorned the album's cover artwork. In 1992, Into Another released the playfully titled Creepy Eepy - four songs that reflected their increasing range.

1994 saw the release of what many consider to be their masterstroke - the epic Ignaurus album, filled to the brim with spectacular songs that venture into deep, dark, and progressive rock territory while still being firmly anchored in melody, groove, and abrasive angst. This album catapulted Into Another into the ranks of much-heralded "buzz" bands. Into Another signed a major label deal of their own in 1995 with the Disney-owned label Hollywood Records.

Into Another entered Seattle's London Bridge Studios with Rick Parashar, who had produced Pearl Jam's cultural mile marker, Ten, as well as the Temple of the Dog album and Alice In Chain's Sap EP. The band emerged with Seemless, which reigned in some of their excesses in favor of shorter compositions and straightforward lyrics without sacrificing Into Another's well-established musical identity.

The band set off on tours with groups including White Zombie and Seaweed. The video for "Mutate Me" received some airplay and "T.A.I.L.," which spawned an EP of the same name, was a Top 40 rock radio track.

Even as Into Another's relationship with Hollywood (and with one another) began to unravel, they managed to record another album's worth of material. Sadly, the record was never released and the band parted ways with their record label and eventually with one another. Any hope of a reunion seemed to disappear with the tragic death of Tony Bono in 2002. The remaining members drifted further apart as the years rolled on.

Then, in 2012, as plans came together for a series of shows to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of Revelation Records, one of the guys from a later generation of Rev bands reached out. Longtime Into Another fan and supporter Brian Balchack (Ignite) and his good friend Reid Black (Innaway) videotaped themselves playing guitar and bass on several Into Another songs, which inspired Richie and Drew to get back onstage for the Rev shows. Once Peter got wind of the developing plans he was onboard as well.

Now a quintet united by the alchemy of the past and the chemistry of the present, Into Another's eleven-pointed star rose once again. After blowing people’s minds at REV 25, Into Another played a few shows on both coasts as they set about recording some new songs. Due to the immediacy of new technologies, Into Another has been able to take a 21st Century approach to their timeless music. Their new 5-song EP, titled Omens, is truly the right album at the right time. Recalling the bands iconic sound, yet expanding on it, fans and new listeners will once again realize why Into Another is truly one of the most important bands of any time.

OMENS is available now on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, Google Play and Rdio. Click HERE for links.

Friday, April 10, 2015

With Indecision's "Unorthodox" having been reissued a few years ago, the time has come for Most Precious Blood to see the light of day again as well. Having a release date of April 21st, Most Precious Blood will make its mark once again via Closed Casket Activities. The extra beauty of this new reissue is that it will also feature the three tracks from the same recording session that ended up on the split 10" with Shai Hulud, and the entire session has been remastered by Brad Boatright at Audiosiege.

Here's a stream of the remastered "Making People Apologize For Accusing You Of Things You Actually Did"

Indecision - Most Precious Blood is now available for pre-order via Closed Casket Activities here:

1-Dream Come True2-This
TimeTomorrow3-Falling
In Love Is Life Setting Yourself On Fire And Hoping You Won't GetBurned4-The
World Is Just Another Thing In My Way5-Most
Precious Blood6-What
Culture?7-...And
You Wear Too Much Make-Up8-Last
Beat Of My Heart9-False
Prophet Preaching10-Samaritan11-Crucifix
Escapist12-Slave13-No
Place Like Home14-How
Far The Mighty Have Fallen15-Making
People Apologize For Accusing You Of Things You Actually Did16-Glue

Also of note is that the Indecision - What It Once Meant DVD is currently available as well

Monday, April 6, 2015

Halfway through a show on December 29th, 1992, a band
of lanky young guys in hoodies and striped baggy shirts set up and began a wall
of feedback. The singer yelled “put up your hoods!” and the place and band
exploded. What happened was monstrous. The energy level was off the charts and
provided me with one of the most strikingly incredible memories of the time; a
girl in a Real Skateboards long sleeve shirt straight up LEVELING dudes in the
pit. It was like bearing witness to the second coming- everything about the set
and the reaction it generated made me believe that the straight edge vegan revolution
was real. This was my introduction to Earth Crisis.

A few weeks later, a friend of mine tracked down a copy of
the “All Out War” ep. I sat in his room listening to it and it was literally
nothing like the band I had just seen. It lacked the insane energy and power
that had floored me and was kind of, well, flat. I joined Halfmast in the
summer of 1993 and the bass player, Bill, dubbed me a copy of some new Earth
Crisis stuff, which I recall he got from Mike Warden (Conquer the World
Records) and THAT WAS THE STUFF! It sounded like revolution to me: crazy,
exciting and dangerous. I listened to that dub at least a hundred times. Although
a watershed moment in hardcore, I thought the “Firestorm” ep paled in
comparison and at the Firestorm record release show that October, they were
just more tame than when I has seen them less than a year previous. I'm not
saying it was bad, it was good; the show just had a less urgent, more relaxed
vibe.

Since 1993, I've played shows with and seen Earth Crisis
many times, but nothing connected with me like that first show or the 1993
demo. When my friend Carl said he still had digitized files from a dub he
thinks got from Guav in 93 (he used to
do a ‘zine called Warmachine), I knew it had to be better than the stuff that’s
been out in the digital world for the past 10+ years. So here it is, cleaned up
as best I could, the 8 song 1993 Earth Crisis Demo. Oh yeah, “Time of Strife” from the structure
records comp, I digitized that last year, but did not include it here, as I'll
be adding that to the blog in the near future.

Friday, March 27, 2015

Our friend Willem who runs the awesome blog, Records With History and Future, started a YouTube channel focusing on the the H8000 scene. Here's what he had to say about it:

Mission Statement:

The
RWHAF YouTube channel is set up to get people to know the 90's Hardcore
scene in Belgium. That scene was called H8000 and this channel features
their music accompanied with information. From the well-known classics
to the obscurer titles, we feature it. The video's contain digitized
vinyl and cassette titles but also CD releases, accompanied with
photo's of records, limited editions, inserts, shirts, excerpts of
interviews and live shows. No graphics, focus is on the music.I do
not have any incomes by running this channel, nor do I make profit of
the artists and labels earlier work. I'm doing a campaign for preventing
the rich musical history of the H8000 to sink into oblivion. The goal
is to pass over the traditions to the new generations and getting people
to know our scene better, respect their roots and keep it alive.So
if you were part of that scene - I know many were back then - or if you
love the musical style and message, please share this channel or some
video's from it on your site, blog or social media.

Check it out as he will have loads of content posted. You can view the channel by clicking below.

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Our friend Tru Pray sent me this last year...I am basically an ass and it took me this long to get around to posting it. I apologize for the delay to you, our faith readers, as well as Tru. Here's a quick recollection of the first time he saw Chokehold.

"I found this tape at my
parent’s house in the DC area. It was transferred from a 30 mm tape recorder by
my friend Mark Anthony.

A group of us traveled
to Philly to see 4 Walls Falling play at the University of Arts. I believe this
was their record release for "Food for Worms". The band that went on before them
was a band called Chokehold from Canada. This was the first time I saw
them. I had no idea that the crowd was going to go off for them like that.

This was just after their release on Conquer the World.

I think Deadguy, Dive and Autumn played. I swore
Turmoil played as well but I could be wrong. I can’t believe this happened 20 years ago."

Thursday, March 5, 2015

To celebrate the upcoming reissue of Groundwork's 'Today We Will Not Be Invisible Or Silent LP, the band will be playing one reunion show that will coincide with 20th Anniversary fest for King Of The Monsters in Arizona. It's already a great lineup with Groundwork and Crudos, but some of the bands that have yet to be announced will blow a few minds as well.

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

As some of you may have noticed, the links to Chokehold remasters that I did a good seven or eight years ago have slowly been going dead, and aren't being re-uploaded. While that could initially seem like bad news, something great has actually been in the works for a while now, and it's that the lovely folks over at A389 Recordings will be reissuing the Chokehold discography in the Summer of 2015.

They have some great little surprises planned for this reissue that I'm quite sure everyone will be very happy with. I was actually in Baltimore last weekend, and I got to hear some of the remasters. Brad Boatright over at Audiosiege has done a fantastic job of bringing all the recordings to their full potential.

It appears that a new Earth Crisis 7" will be surfacing on may 19th via Bullet Tooth Records. Full label press release below the image.

Earth Crisis' chugging riffs and barked declarations served as the mouthpiece of America's vegan straight-edge movement throughout the '90s, detailing the ideas of animal and human liberation, drug-free living, and personal empowerment through hardcore music. The band is proud to announce a new 4 song 7" vinyl and CD release "THE DISCIPLINE" comingMay 19, 2015 on Bullet Tooth. The EP will have two newly recorded songs from the band's pioneering debut album "Destroy The Machines", and two unreleased songs die-hard fans may recognize from unreleased demos from the 90s.

Founding member, guitarist and song writer Scott Crouse, commented, "We think the songs on Destroy The Machines are still strong, and relevant, two decades later. We have always wanted to re-record them, and figured the 20 year anniversary of the album was a fitting occasion. Our intention isn't to erase the original versions, just offer another version we feel will offer the power and clarity the songs deserve. We also decided to record two songs we demo'd years ago because they're great and people need to hear them! "Behind The Mask" and "Time Of Strife" are timeless and we think ExC fans will love them."

There is some long history between Earth Crisis and Bullet Tooth founder Josh Grabelle. He met the band in 1992 when he moved to their hometown of Syracuse, NY to start college just as their very first 7" "All Out War" was released and the vegan straight edge hardcore movement had just begun. In the mid to late 1990s the band would play a few shows in his basement in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, were guests at each other's weddings, and have all remained friends for over twenty years!

Major media outlets in the late 1990s such as MTV, CNN, and CBS started covering Earth Crisis and the vegan straight-edge movement in general. In 1996, the band was asked to take part in the inaugural Ozzfest (with Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Danzig, Biohazard, Sepultura) and from there did heavy US and international touring with In Flames, Misfits, Converge, Hatebreed, Glassjaw and more. They have since released a total of 8 studio albums with over 250,000 copies in worldwide sales on Victory Records, Roadrunner, Century Media, and Candlelight.

Stay tuned for more music, videos, tour dates and more from Earth Crisis! Interviews with members available upon request.

Earth Crisis tour dates:

April 4 - Fayetteville, NC @ Empire w/ Biohazard, Sworn Enemy

April 5 - Jacksonville, FL @ South East Beast Fest w/ Life Of Agony, Biohazard

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Morning Again has announced they will play a few shows this summer, the first in South Florida. More will be announced soon.

The band will also be re-releasing their discography on vinyl to coincide with the upcoming shows. Revelation Records will reissue "As Tradition Dies Slowly" and Demons Run Amok Records will release the rest of the bands recorded output.